For Fox Sake
by neoshadow413-silver
Summary: While on a class trip to Shanghai, Alya notices weird happenings with Marinette and Adrien. Alya follows her duty as a reporter and uncovers a boatload of connections and secrets. Alya will have to find out how important the truth really is.
1. Background blur

"I swear I love those two, but why can they never be on time?" Alya and Nino sat together on the class's coach bus. Their class had planned to go to shanghai for months, and yet somehow both Marinette AND Adrien both found a way to be late for the bus. If they were late, the bus was late, and if the bus was late then the whole class could miss the plane to Shanghai.

And to make matters worse; an Akuma attack was happening in the center of the city- and Alya was missing it. She knew it was petty, people could be in danger- but it was Alya's job to keep people up to date with the Ladyblog. She fiddled with the lady bug charm on her phone.

Nino could see that she was stressing. He put his hand on top of hers to stop her from fiddling. "Calm down, Alya. They'll probably be here soon. And Paris can go a week or two without their top blogger."

Alya smiled softly. She and Nino had been dating for two weeks; it was pretty casual, but them being together still sent little butterflies through her stomach.

"I should still stay up to date on what's going on." Alya said, unlocking her phone. She scrolled through the news.

"What's the Akuma this time?" Nino asked.

"It seems to be some kind of bus driver." She laughed, reading further into the article. "He calls himself the "Toll Troll"."

"Just our luck that we're on a bus while he's attacking."

"I trust ladybug and Chat Noir to keep us safe." Alya said, and then smirked. "And if it really comes to it then Chloe could just insult the Akuma into tears."

He snickered as Alya's phone buzzed, informing her of the battle's end. "It's over."

"Who won?"

"Who do you think?" she answered.

Marinette rushed onto the bus carrying her purse and a backpack.

Alya's stress deflated a bit. "Marinette! Where have you been, girl? I thought you had been hurt in the Akuma attack or something! Text me next time, okay?"

The girl sat down in the seats facing them and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Alya. I forgot one of my bags and had to go back for it." Marinette looked around. "Is Adrien not here?"

Nino shook his head. "You're not the only one who's late. He won't answer his phone either." He looked up the bus aisle. "Speak of the devil."

Adrien walked towards them, when he got to them he slung off his back pack and sat beside Marinette, who turned beet-red beside him. The second he sat down the bus jolted to a start, the driver had been impatient to get a move on.

Nino laughed "Dude, after your late enough it stops being fashionable."

"My car got stuck in traffic near the Akuma fight."

"It's all cool." Nino said. "I'm still surprised your dad let you come on the trip."

Adrien shrugged. "He's sending Natalie over to China once she finishes helping him with some business."

"Speaking of family in China," Alya interjected. "Don't you have family in Shanghai, Marinette?"

She tore her gaze from Adrien. "Y- Yeah. Much of my mom's side of the family. I haven't seen most of them for years." Marinette looked out her window. The sun was setting causing the sky to melt from blue to pale orange.

The bus got eerily quiet, Nino filled the silence. "Alya's going to go crazy not being able to get more information for the Ladyblog."

"I heard that Chat Noir will be taking a break for a while anyway." Adrien mentioned.

"What?!" Both Alya and Marinette were taken aback.

Alya sat forward. "How do you know?"

"Uh, last time Chat Noir saved me, he told me." He ran his hand through his hair nervously.

Alya was a bit offended. "And you didn't tell your friend who runs a blog about superheroes?" She sighed. "I guessed Ladybug will have to take care Paris alone for a while."

Marinette looked worried and touched her small pink purse.

"It better that it's Chat Noir that's taking a break than Ladybug." Alya continued. "It's not like he could do anything with the Akuma once it's released."

"What?" Adrien objected. "Chat Noir's so cool though! He's so- so-"

"Obnoxious?" Marinette supplied, then blushed when he looked at her. She touched her bag again and stood. "I'll be right back."

Adrien frowned and twisted a silver ring around his finger.

"Where'd you get that?" Alya asked.

"What?"

"Your ring." She repeated. "Where'd you get it?"

He looked at his hand and quickly answered. "A gift from my father."

Something was wrong. He was lying. Alya didn't need her reporter skills to see it, but she kept her mouth shut. She hoped he didn't get the ring from a partner. If Adrien had a girlfriend it would break Marinette's shy little heart.

"EXCUSE ME!?" Chloe's shrill voice echoed from the front of the bus. Alya looked to see her yelling into her phone. "NO. I will NOT travel anything but first class. Put my Daddy on the phone! ...-I DON'T CARE IF HE'S BUSY!"

Alya took pleasure in Chloe's anger. "I guess she's been forced to fly with the rest of us peasants."

Nino scowled. "No, we peasants are forced to fly with Chloe."

Adrien laughed softly. "The whole point of this trip was for us to all go together."

Marinette returned and sat back down across from Alya. Marinette's worry had seemed to have doubled in the time she was gone. Alya picked up her phone and shot her a text.

 _you ok mari?- Alya_

 _Yeah, all good.- Mari_

 _so when we get to china i was thinking the 4 of us could go on a double date- Alya_

Marinette looked up sharply at her, and shook her head. Alya smirked back.

 _so you dont want to?- Alya_

 _of course i do but it wont end well- Mari_

 _why not?- Alya_

 _cause i cant look him in the eye without becoming a puddle- Mari_

The bus pulled up to the airport. The students put their carry-on onto the X-ray conveyor belt.

One of the security guards stopped Marinette from picking up her purse. "Miss, we got a strange readin' on that bag, would you mind if we checked that out?"

"Not at all." They waited patiently for him to rummage through her tiny purse.

"I'm sorry for the delay." He handed back her purse. "The X-ray made it look like there was some sorta mouse in your bag."

They walked towards the boarding area. Alya turned to her friend. "That was weird."

"For sure!" Marinette smiled. Again Alya felt something was up, and again she did nothing.

It took much less time than Alya anticipated for everyone to be boarded onto the plane, but still Chloe complained loudly about the wait.

The four of them sat in the middle aisle Marinette and Adrian sat on either end while Alya and Nino sat beside each other.

Adrien and Nino were talking in hushed tones. Adrien was sweating, and yet still, somehow looked good.

"Chill dude." Nino said. "We'll be fine."

Alya leaned forward so she can see them both. "What's up?"

Nino smirked. "Adrien's never been on a plane before. He's low key freaking out."

"High key." Adrien squeaked. "If we crash it'll be a catastrophic." He laughed nervously to himself.

"Hang in there buddy." Alya said. She handed over some gum. "Try this, it helps."

The plane began to take off and Alya turned to Marinette who was scribbling on a postcard. "What ya doin' there?"

Marinette looked up from her work. "I'm writing to my parents. I'm going to send it home when we get there."

Alya smiled. "Isn't the whole point to write the postcard when your actually there?"

"It's called time management, Alya. I need that time to do the things I'm writing about." Marinette giggled and went back to her writing.

What felt like forever past on that plane. Alya was extremely exhausted. She checked the time on her phone. It was late, very late. She turned and rested her head on Nino's shoulder. He was listening to his headphones. She could hear music faintly through the padding.

"This is good. Who's the artist?"

Nino smiled softly. "Me."

"I'm lucky to have such a talented boyfriend." Alya said, laughing quietly.

He laced their fingers together. "I'm still crazy happy that you call me your boyfriend."

She wasn't sure, but sometime in the next half hour Alya drifted into a deep sleep. She only woke when the flight attendant sent the five minute landing warning over the intercom.

Tearing herself from Nino's shoulder, Alya stood, stretched, and turned to see Marinette smiling maniacally at her.

"What?" Alya put her hands down, suddenly self-conscious.

Marinette voice was sing-songy. "I've got something to show you."

Alya sat back down while Marinette pulled out her phone. She pulled up a photo and handed the phone to Alya. The screen showed Alya and Nino sleeping, arms draped over each other. In the background Adrien slept too, but a small black blur covered part of his face.

"This is a good pic!" Alya said." We look really cute. Could you send me a copy?"

"Sure, no problem."

The resolution was much better on Alya's phone. She could swear she could see the stubble on Nino's face (That in which he was very proud of). But along with that the blur over Adrian's face got clearer.

It had... eyes.

Alya zoomed in on the photo. Could it be a bat? On a plane? Not likely. Something wasn't right. She felt it in her gut. Adrien had been acting weird too. Something was going on- And Alya intended to find out what it was.


	2. Easier Than She Thought

It was near dawn in Shanghai by the time that they got to the hotel. Back in Paris it would be midnight and the students were in a daze-like dream. Alya didn't remember getting to the hotel- but she remembered what she dreamed clearly.

During her dream, Alya was in a small room sectioned off by heavy black velvet curtains. The room was cold and dark; she could feel the marble floor leaching her heat out through her shoes.

A green light flashed behind one of the curtains, sending a sliver of light through the bottom of the drapes.

Alya pulled back the curtain to find- more curtains. Again a light flashed, this time red. She pulled back another drape, then another. She ran through the vast area searching franticly for the lights that were always just out or her reach. She had to find them. She had to find the truth.

A small piercing orange light ignited in front of her. She back peddled in surprise to avoid running into it.

Using dream mentality there was only one thing she could do; she touched the orb of light. Instantly, the light raced up her arm, enveloping her in a warm coating of energy. Alya felt powerful and safe.

She turned to see Nino behind her. Her smile faded when she saw the look on his face. He didn't look like his normal upbeat self. Nino was angry and tired.

Alya tried to ask him what was wrong, but she couldn't speak. Her voice was gone. She panicked- what was a reporter without her voice? Now Alya couldn't breathe. She reached out for Nino, but he wouldn't look at her, his face covered by his hat.

She had no air, no way to communicate, and no one who would help her. The glow faded from her body. She was in darkness.

Alya woke up out of breath, but least she could breathe. She took off the covers over her head, letting cool, fresh air into her lungs.

The hotel room she and Marinette shared was coloured red and orange with intricate gold details.

The sun was high outside the window, indicating it being later in the day. She checked her phone; the time read 2:00p.m. Alya sighed and did the math in her head; Shanghai was six hours ahead of Paris, making it 8:00 back home.

She opened the photo of her and Nino back up. He looked so calm and peaceful sleeping, much unlike he did in her dream. She set in as her phone background, and got up out of bed.

"Marinette, get _up_ girl!" Alya said, yanking the covers off of her friend.

Marinette curled up into a ball from the sudden cold. She covered her face with a pillow and groaned in displeasure.

Alya laughed. "Adrien will probably be up already up…"

Alya laughed as Marinette jolted out of bed. She had never seen the girl get ready so fast. Alya poked her head out into the hallway; the hall seemed much bigger than it did the night before, when she had been half asleep. Alya could smell the food before the two of them had reached the large dining room.

The dining room was a grand, open-concept area; the far wall was mainly made of a huge window that showed a stunning view of Shanghai. The dining room was on the top floor so the students could see most of the city. To the left wall, was a row of booths, were most of the class sat. Opposite to that was the buffet. The dining room was so large that it seemed could probably be changed into a ballroom if needed. In the center of the room were dozens of small tables.

Chloe, sitting at one of the small tables with Sabrina, dabbed her face with a napkin. "Are you two trying to get more beauty sleep? It's not working."

Alya smirked. "It's works more than you ever will, _daddy's girl_."

"Ouch." Nino Chuckled, under his breath. He and Adrien were indeed already up. Alya and Marinette moved to sit with them at their booth.

Two men came out into the dining room from a side door. One was familiar. Alya had seen him in Paris; it was Marinette's Uncle Wang. If she remembered correctly, Wang had been a chef from Shanghai, who had traveled all over the world.

The other man was much smaller. Just under the height of Alya and Marinette. Like Wang, he had a beard, but this man's was much longer, almost wizardly.

Wang and the other man pulled Marinette into a big hug.

"Zhi! Wang!" Marinette giggled. They let her out of the hug and then introduced them to her classmates. "This is my Great Uncle Wang; most of you already know him. The other one is Zhi, my Grandfather on my mother's side." Wang usually runs the kitchen here, but recently won an award and got to travel the world. Zhi runs the largest hotel chain in Shanghai, including the hotel were at now."

Alya was surprised. "Wow, Mari, your family is really a big deal here!"

Marinette blushed. "Not really."

Zhi pointed to the room the men they came out of. "Your grandmother is back in there, you should go talk to her." He had a thick Chinese accent, but his French was much better than his brother's.

"Okay." Marinette nodded. "We're going to get some food first. Is Collin here? I haven't seen him for years."

Zhi smiled. "Collin is still at school, he has been working very hard on his studies lately."

Alya and Marinette left the two men, and headed towards the buffet.

"Collin is my cousin." Marinette said. "He's a few years older than us. He should be graduating this year." She scooped scrambled eggs onto her plate. "Would you like to come with me to meet my Grandmother Xiang?"

Alya shrugged and took a helping of some sort of vegetables. "I wouldn't want to get in the way of a family meeting."

"Grandma can be kind of…" Marinette searched for the right word. "… Judgey. I don't want her to think I don't have any friends from school."

They ate quickly, and then walked towards the side room that the men had emerged from. The area, though not huge, was obviously a staff conference room. The walls were a warm burgundy, the floor made of a soft carpet. In the center of the room was a round table, polished to a shine. There Xiang sat.

Xiang's hair was silver and tied back. She wore a white dress, a silver bird necklace, and had slim, silver glasses. She was a small woman; petite, and definitely under 5'2. Xiang shared the looks of her daughter, Marinette's mother. She read a letter, lips pursed, as if she tasted something sour.

But Xiang's look of displeasure melted when she spotted her granddaughter. She stood, smiling and strode towards them.

"Marinette!" Xiang said, placing her hands softly on her granddaughter's arms. "You have grown so big!"

She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, time does that."

"And who is this?" Xiang turned to Alya, her face neutral.

Alya's palms began to sweat. Xiang had not yet decided how she felt about her. Something about Xiang told Alya that she did not want to be on her bad side.

Marinette put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "This is my best friend Alya."

The woman smiled, and Alya let out a breath she did not know she was holding in. "You are the one with the interest in the Yaogai, are you not?"

Alya looked to Marinette for help with the old lady's words.

"Yaogai means demons. She means the Akuma." Marinette translated.

"Oh, yes. I mainly focus on the heroes who fight the Akuma. I run a blog detailing their movements and battles back in Paris."

Xiang sat back down at the table. "The magic of both the Yaogai and the heroes who fight them come from the Kwami."

Alya looked to Marinette for another translation. "Kwami?"

Marinette offered no response, but instead was focused heavily on her grandmother's words.

"Kwami, the fairy gods of that represent the world's creatures." Xiang continued. "They give man terrible and miraculous powers."

"Could you tell me more, for the Ladyblog?" Alya asked.

"Not now, but soon my old friend, and teacher will be visiting. They will be able to give you more information."

A shrill yell sounded from the dining hall. It was clear who the commotion came from.

"Chloe…" Alya groaned, face in hand.

Xiang's face was once again neutral. "One of your friends?"

Marinette's voice dripped with anger. "No. No, she isn't." She turned and stomped out the door.

Alya followed, but Xiang stopped her for a moment. "My son has a book that could be a help to you. If you see him, tell him I told you to get the "Book of Humans Gods and Demons"."

Alya opened the door to the dining hall to see Chloe and Marinette seething in each other's faces.

Chloe pointed to Wang. "Your crazy Uncle tried to kill me last time he saw me!"

Marinette through her hands above her head. "He was Akumatized! Half the class has tried to kill you while they were Akumatized!"

Chloe huffed and looked to Adrien for help. He sighed, obviously not wanting to get caught up in the girl's fight. "You two need to calm down. Chloe, show your hosts some respect."

She scowled and sat back down.

Alya and Marinette took their place at the booth with Nino and Adrien.

"The evil has been defeated." Alya whispered. The others giggled, even Adrien, who did his best to smother his laughter.

That day, the class took a trip to the Shanghai Museum. For the first few hours the group of four perused though the countless rooms of armour, geodes, and ancient pottery, but the second Alya heard there was an exhibition on Miraculous, not a thing in the world could stop her from dragging her friends to it. Marinette seemed unenthusiastic to go to the exhibit, but Adrien seemed strangely just as excited as Alya did. Nino just seemed glad to follow Alya around the museum.

The Miraculous exhibit held many artefacts and tapestries, each with a detailed description card beside them. Unfortunately the description cards were all written in Chinese. Alya went around to many of the displays, taking photos for later use.

One of the cases held a familiar looking necklace. The necklace was a silver dove, much like the one Marinette's grandmother wore. Alya noted that Xiang must have been more interested about the superheroes than she thought. Beside the necklace was an old photo of a superhero wearing dove garments.

She moved on to look at the tapestries. One depicted Ladybug and Chat Noir at the top and many heroes below them, bowing. Another showed a Ying-yang symbol with to small creatures where the small circles would be. One creature was red with black marks, the other seemed familiar, being black with large green eyes.

"Adrien?" Alya called. "You read Mandarin right? Could you help me with this description card?"

He came over to see what she had found. Adrien leaned toward the writing to translate. "Here, shows the two major miraculous being worshiped by the six minor miraculous and the seven lesser miraculous."

"There are more Miraculous? I wonder where they are. What is the other tapestry?" She asked.

"The two major Kwami," He read. "The gods that control the positive and negative energies of our world."

"Gods?" Alya said. "Ladybug and Chat No-" Her voice trailed off. She knew why the small black creature in the tapestry looked familiar. She began to flip quickly through her photo roll, madly looking for the photo from the plane.

Adrien looked at her puzzledly. "What?"

Alya found the photo and shoved the phone into Adrien's face. "It was a Kwami!" She half whispered. "You're Chat Noir aren't you?"

"What are you talking about? W-why would you think that?" His voice gave him away.

She took the phone back and found another photo she had almost forgotten about. The picture was Adrien photoshopped into Chat Noir's suit. Marinette had denied the possibility of Adrien being Chat Noir, but now Alya couldn't possibly believe he was someone else.

She showed him the photo, and he gaped, stammering. Alya had never seen Adrien so jumbled.

A wisp of a black shadow zipped out of Adrien's jacket and floated between them. The thing that was obviously a Kwami, like in the tapestry, was black with large, round, green eyes. He shrugged and spoke in a high-pitched voice. "Well, she's got us. There's no use pretending anymore."

"Plagg!" Adrien grabbed the Kwami out of the air, squishing its head slightly. "You know better than to come out in public!"

Alya turned to see if Marinette or Nino had seen Plagg. Luckily, the other two were focused on display showing the costume of the white dove. Adrien motioned with his head for her to follow him around the corner of the wall.

She followed him trying to decipher what her new knowledge would mean in the long run.

When they were out of sight, Plagg squeezed out of Adrien's hands with a pop. "That tapestry was awful! They never get my ears right!"

Adrien was angrier than Alya had ever seen him. "What was that?! Someone could have seen you!"

Plagg scoffed. "No one did!"

The model gestured to Alya furiously.

She interrupted. "Who else knows who you are?"

"No one, just you." He looked Alya in the eyes. "You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"I run the Ladyblog! I have to give all the information about Chat Noir to the public-"

"-Alya!" Adrien was now pleading. "You Can't!"

She had no choice. There was no way she was going to put her friend in danger. If the public knew he was Chat Noir, Hawkmoth could target him and his family directly.

Alya sighed. "I promise, I won't tell anyone."

This class trip was going to be a wild ride. Alya knew that for sure.


	3. Questions without Answers

Luckily, by the time Nino and Marinette found Alya and Adrien, they had finished talking about secrets to be kept.

Nino seemed suspicious. "What ya doin' back here guys

"Nothing much," Alya lied. "Adrien was just reading some description cards for me."

"Descriptions about pottery?" He quirked an eyebrow.

Alya hadn't noticed that they had moved out of the miraculous exhibit when they hid, to a much less interesting section on prehistoric pottery.

"Yeah," She said. "The pottery is actually pretty interesting." She smiled warmly.

Alya knew that she could be a very convincing liar. She hated doing it; it felt like she was using people to get what she wanted. But this secret was too big to tell anyone. Nino was better off not knowing- even if it hurt her to lie to him.

Adrien pointed to an old, sculpted tea pot. "This is from the Tang Dynasty."

Nino laughed "That's great, man."

Marinette, who had been looking especially small behind Nino, spoke up. "We should probably get going. We're supposed to be back at the bus in ten minutes, and the museum is pretty big."

The four of them walked back towards the lobby of the Museum. Boys walked in front while Alya and Marinette drifted behind them a bit.

Marinette tuned to Alya. "Is there something going on with you and Adrien?" Her voice was soft and melancholy.

Alya felt her little heart break. Did Marinette think Alya and Adrien had a thing? Like a romantic thing?

"Of course not!" Alya struggled to keep her voice low, not to bring the attention from the boys in front of them. "I would _never_ go after a friends crush- That's like the biggest rule in the code! I'm with Nino!"

Marinette tucked her hair behind her ear, and looked at her feet. "Your right, I'm sorry for doubting you, but there is something going on right?"

"Yeah." Alya sighed. "It's about his dad."

Marinette nodded. "Oh, okay." She didn't ask more on the subject.

It hurt to lie to her friend but it was better than her thinking she was with her crush. And there was no way Alya could tell her that Adrien was Chat Noir.

The class loaded onto the bus as Mrs. Bustier did a headcount. Unfortunately this bus wasn't as nice as the one they had taken to the hotel; it was just a plain school bus.

"Three to a seat!" Mrs. Bustier yelled towards the back of the bus.

Alya, Nino, Adrien and Marinette paused; one of them was going to have to sit apart from the others. Alya froze, hoping that if she didn't move, they wouldn't choose her.

Chloe latched on to Adrien's arm. "Adrikins can sit with me and Sabrina!" Sabrina stood behind her, holding Chloe's huge bags from the gift shop.

Adrien looked back to his friends in a silent, desperate plea for help.

Nino smirked and shrugged. "Hang in there, man."

Mrs. Bustier Called back again. "Sit down, we have to get moving."

The teens complied, with various levels of enthusiasm. Marinette scowled and held her hands in fists, unhappy that Adrien couldn't sit with them. Sabrina hovered for a bit, deciding where to put the bags, until she gave up and placed them, beside Rose and Juleka.

Adrien looked over the booth back at them, pained. Alya held back a laugh; Saving Paris he could handle, but not obnoxious fangirls.

Nino and Marinette sat on either side of Alya, Marinette looking out the window, and Nino siting on the tiny piece of booth that was basically in the aisle.

Alya's phone beeped in her hand. She looked down to see a message from Adrien.

 _We have to talk abt what happened. Meet me at the hotel.-Adri_

 _k. I'll try to get some time to see you. -Alya_

"Talk about what?" Nino's question surprised Alya. She looked up from her phone to see that he was reading the messages as well.

"It's nothing important." She knew her excuse was poor, but she couldn't think of anything good on command.

"If it wasn't important you'd tell me." He answered.

She looked back down at the phone, avoiding eye contact. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't even know what's going on yet."

Nino took out his own phone and started typing. She hated seeing him like this; he didn't seem happy in the least, much different from his usual positive, chill self.

He looked up from his phone towards Adrien, who looked back and shook his head. Alya looked to Nino, trying to decipher whatever the boys had talked about in their text, but Nino turned away.

He made no contact with anyone for the rest of the bus ride.

The trip back to the hotel was short, and soon the students piled out of the bus into the lobby. Mrs. Buster informed them that they were to spend some time to themselves, then come to the dining hall for lunch.

Marinette nudged Alya's arm. "Would you come with me to see if my cousin has arrived yet? Collin's pretty cool."

"Well I was going to…" Alya's voice trailed off. What could she tell Marinette? That she was going to go have a secret meeting with Adrien? There is no way that would end well. She sighed. "Sure, I'm game."

The two girls walked through the lobby to the back room where Marinette's Grandmother had been before. Alya felt weird walking to back room because it seemed to be a sort of staff meeting room, still Marinette walk straight in with the confidence of a master.

In the room were Xiang and two other people, sitting at the round table. One was an old Chinese man wearing a Hawaiian shirt. The other was no other than Gabriel Agrest, Adrien's father. The tall man stood suddenly when they entered, giving Alya the impression that her and Marinette were a place they shouldn't be.

Adrien made no mention of his father coming on the trip, and Alya wondered if he even knew his father was here.

Still Marinette's eyes were not on the rich fashion designer, but the man in the Hawaiian shirt.

"Master Fu?" Marinette asked, confused.

The man smiled and nodded. "It's nice to see you, Marinette."

"Are you related to each other?" Alya asked trying to assess the situation.

"Oh! - Uh no. He and I aren't, uh, related." Marinette stammered, and then changed the subject. "Is Collin here yet?"

"Yes." Xiang confirmed. "He is in the staffroom with his father."

"Wait," Alya said. "I thought this was the staffroom."

Xiang stood and pulled back wooden panelling that Alya had thought was just part of the wall. "No, this is my library." Behind the paneling was a wall of bookshelves filled to the brim with books, some books were even pressed in horizontally to use the most of the space. "When you find him, be sure to remember to ask my son for the book."

Alya nodded and followed Marinette out to the real staffroom.

Marinette turned to her as they walked. "What book was she talking about?"

"It's a book about the miraculous. I'm trying to read up for the Ladyblog."

The two girls entered the staffroom- which indeed held the title better than the previous room. The staffroom held a fridge and microwave, staff lockers, a white board with schedules written on it in Chinese, and a table with fold-out chairs.

Near the white board, Zhi argued loudly in Chinese with a boy in his late teens. His hair was close cropped, and a blue-black colour like Marinette's and his eyes a dark teal. He wore a white T-shirt and dark jeans. Alya assumed that he was Collin.

At the table, a staff member ate quickly, seeming like she would rather be any were else than near the fight of her boss and his son.

Zhi, who had become red in the face, stopped yelling with his son to see the girls come in. He scowled at his son, made a final comment in Chinese, and walked past the girls to leave the room.

Collin watched his father leave, stone-faced, then his face lit up when his eyes rested on Marinette.

"Collin!" Marinette laughed as they hugged. "It's so good to see you!"

He smiled and released the hug. "You've gotten so big, Mari! I remember when you could ride on my shoulders, now look at you!"

"Collin, this is my best friend, Alya." Marinette said. "And Alya, this is my cousin, Collin."

He elbowed her playfully. "Technically, I'm Marinette's uncle."

"But he's only three years older than me," Marinette said. "So saying he's my uncle is kind of weird."

"Makes sense." Alya agreed. "Collin, I was supposed to ask you about a book?"

"Oh yeah, "The Book of Humans, Gods, and Demons"." He went to a backpack sitting on the table beside the eating staff member, and pulled out an old book with a grey cover. "My mom said you wanted it. It has a lot of facts about the Kwami. You're lucky it's in French."

He handed it to her. Alya flipped through the pages. "So, why did _you_ have it?"

Collin zipped his bag shut. "I want to go to university in Chinese culture, so I've been studying pretty hard. I've even gotten an invitation to a great school out of the city, but Dad doesn't want me to go."

"Why not?" Marinette asked.

Collin sighed. "He wants me to take over the hotel chain- but it's really not my kind of thing. I want to learn about the world around me, not run a business."

Alya's phone buzzed with another text from Adrien.

 _Nino's out with Alix and Max, now's the purrfect time to talk. - Adri_

Alya mentally groaned at his pun, then spoke to Marinette. "You two should catch up. I've got some stuff to do." She left quickly to avoid any questions Marinette might had have.

Adrien and Nino's hotel room was the exact same as Marinette and Alya's only.

Alya entered to find Adrien sitting cross-legged on his bed feeding Plagg some sort of cheese.

He looked up at her. "I need your help Alya."

"What would you need my help for?" She walked to the foot of his bed and took off her bag- the book was starting to get heavy.

"I want you to help me find lady bug."

Alya smirked and raised her eyebrow. "What the seductive Chat Noir can't win the fair lady's heart by himself?"

"Alya, I'm serious."

She held her forehead in her hands. "Isn't she like nine hundred years old or something?

Adrien shook his head. "No. That was just a red herring; I think you were getting close. She should be our age."

Plagg, who had been trying to eat with restraint, gave up and shoved the whole piece in his mouth. Alya smothered her laugher, unable to stay a serious as Adrien.

Alya opened her bag. "Yeah, I'll help. But we can work on that when we get back to Paris, for now I want to ask you-" She took out the large grey book and dropped it heavily on the bed.

"-How much do you know about your Kwami?"


	4. Places She Shouldn't Be

"-How much do you know about your Kwami?"

Adrien looked at the small creature on his bed. "Well, he likes camembert, he can turn me into a super hero, and he's a little shit most of the time."

"That's all you know?" Alya honestly thought Adrien more would ask more questions about a magical fairy who can give him the power to destroy anything. She sat down cross legged on the end of the bed.

Adrien shrugged. "Plagg talks a lot- trust me - but he doesn't talk about himself much."

Plagg turned to him and put his lil hands in the air. "You never asked!"

Alya cracked open the book, and started to read. "Kwami are gods,"

"Damn strait." Plagg said. Adrien shushed him.

She continued. "Once captured by man-kind and put into smaller items, like jewellery. This created the common story of the genie in the bottle. Over thousands of years, the Kwami accepted their slavery, and humans as their masters. The Masters and their godly servants fused together to create beings of immense power; The Miraculous."

Adrien stopped her. "Wait, Plagg- Slavery? I thought you were always like this- or like being a super hero was your choice."

Plagg shrugged. "It's not that bad if you use my power for good."

The boy didn't seem convinced. "Do you want me to set you free? Can I even do that?"

"Not until we defeat Hawkmoth. And after you get me more camembert. That's my favourite thing about having a solid form. When I'm a god I can't eat."

Alya interrupted reading louder to shut them up. "The Miraculous of old were both heroes and villains- but joined together against a common enemy. An unnamed evil, a calamity, a darkness seen neither before nor after the Miraculous lived raced over the planet, engulfing all in its wake. There are many theories of how the darkness began. The most widely believed version is that the evil was created from the gods being unjustly contained. No scripts remain on how the Miraculous defeated the darkness, but one thing is known; every one of the thirteen Kwami Masters was killed in the battle."

Adrien ran his hands through his hair. "That's heavy"

"After that we were all given to the keeper." Plagg said.

"Keeper?" Alya asked.

Plagg rolled his huge eyes. "It's the guy who keeps all the miraculous, and gives them out to the holders. When the keeper died he past them to the next keeper, then him to the next one after that-"

Alya heard the door to the hotel room open behind her; she turned to see Nino walk in, holding a coffee. She slapped the book quickly overtop of Plagg, silencing him. It was more important that Plagg was hidden than if he was comfortable.

Nino froze when he saw her cross-legged across from Adrien on his bed. "What's going on here?"

He was rightfully confused. Alya knew she would have been too if she was in his position.

Out of the corner of her eye Alya saw a wisp of black smoke fly from under the book towards Adrien. She placed the book in her bag and got up. "We were just learning some things about Shanghai, planning for later in the trip." She walked past him. "See you later, Nino."

He spun in place, still holding the coffee. "So what, you're just going to go?"

"Yep! See ya." She called through the closing door.

Once it was closed she leaned against the wall of the hallway. Alya knew she couldn't avoid this forever. She was going to have to talk to Nino at some point.

But for now, she had her own questions. Why did Xiang have a book with so much important information about the Kwami? This stuff wasn't just common knowledge, Alya had done loads of research and never found any of this information.

Maybe Xiang was a Miraculous enthusiast? She had a dove necklace just like the one at the Miraculous exhibit at the museum. Alya had seen the old photo of the dove hero, and who knows, Xiang could have just been a fan when she was younger.

Another thing Alya wanted to know was why Xiang was having meetings with Mr. Agreste. Adrien didn't seem to even know his father was in the country. Even with hindsight Alya had no idea if she should have told Adrien of his father's arrival. It was none of her business anyway, she had no right to get involved in the Agreste's family issues.

Still, these things ate at her, and what better way to get answers than to ask for them? She pressed away from the wall and made her way towards Xiang's library. The woman had to know more.

For the second time in one day, Alya had walked into an argument when she entered a room.

There in the back room stood Gabriel, towering over Fu, his voice booming. "You trust people to easily! You can't give out the Miraculous like candy! This is exactly what happened last time!"

Fu kept his voice steady. "I can see the good in people, it is a talent you still have to learn."

"You're to busy looking for good, that you fail to see the evil." Gabriel smoothed his hair back irritably.

Xiang, who had been sitting at the table watching the men argue, stood and put a hand on either of their shoulders. She nodded toward Alya's entrance.

Alya took a deep breath in and pressed her shoulders back. She tried to seem as confident as possible. "You know something about the Miraculous. I want to know what."

Gabriel spoke before Xiang could answer. "What makes you think you deserve to know?" He looked down at her through narrowed eyes.

She took a leap. "Because I found out about your son." She honestly had no idea if Gabriel knew Adrien was Chat Noir, but if he did, she hoped it would give her some cred.

Apparently, he did.

"My boy is foolish, he does not realize how much danger he is in."

Alya walked over to the table, put down her bag and sat down. "Is that why you followed him to Shanghai?"

"He's in Paris because of me." Gabriel scoffed. "There is no way I would let him stay in Paris without me. You should thank me; I arranged the whole school trip so that I could have my meetings. That of which you are rudely interrupting."

Fu sat down to Alya's left. He smiled. "There is no reason she can't stay."

Gabriel walked to an empty chair but didn't sit. "There are many reasons she can't stay. She is not one of us; she does not belong here." The man turned to Xiang for support. "You agree with me that this is nonsense, right?"

Xiang took a chair and laced her fingers together. "I believe she should stay."

Alya spoke up. "I want to know more about the Miraculous."

Fu nodded slowly. "Of course you do. But you must promise that this will not go out to the public."

"Yes." She agreed. "This is not the first time I've had to promise that today."

Fu began to talk. "Adrien was given Plagg for multiple reasons; yes, he had a good heart, but even if he did not know it, he was already connected to the Miraculous. Adrien had pre-existing family ties to Miraculous holders. Often, the Miraculous are passed down for generations. We have found in the past that the power of the stones can corrupt, and must be used wisely."

Alya looked to Gabriel, who was cleaning his glasses, frowning. Was he the family tie between Adrien and the miraculous? Or was it Adrien's mom? Alya knew she had been missing for over a year. Maybe she was off fighting crime?

Xiang played with her necklace absentmindedly. "There is a war brewing." She said. "The three of us must gather the Miraculous to save the earth."

That caught Alya's attention. "War? Against who? Hawk Moth? The Darkness?"

Gabriel put on his glasses and stood. "I think it's time for you to go."

Alya got up, but didn't leave. "What can I do to help?"

Fu handed Alya her bag. "You are perceptive, and see through lies easily. You must learn to spin lies yourself. Stay aware." He lead her to the door.

Alya, not knowing how to respond, just nodded. Gabriel ushered her out the door.

Everything was crazy, and although it was only her second day in Shanghai part of her just wanted to go home to Paris. Maybe it was time for her to call home.


	5. The Good, the Bad, the Bloody

The Skype call home did help clear her mind.

Alya laid on her stomach on her bed, with her arms out to hold her phone.

It was 9:00 in Shanghai, making in 3:00 back home. Her sisters, Ellie and Casey, had just gotten home from school when she called. They were twins, both eleven, and both crazy. She loved the heck out them anyway.

Like always, the beginning of the call with her parents was rough. It took five minutes before her father stopped asking if she could hear them.

"How's Shanghai? What have you gone so far?" Her mother asked.

"Oh, Shanghai's great!" Alya answered. "We went to the Museum today. It's only been a day though, not too much has happened."

The lie sounded almost funny in her own ears. In only a day Alya had found out the identity of a super hero, she leaned about enslaved gods, and found out about a secret war.

Her father crossed her arms. "Don't spend too much of her time on your phone, Alya. You may never be back to Shanghai. There's a whole world out there to see!"

Alya rolled her eyes. "No problem, dad."

"There was an Akuma attack the day you left Paris." The voice came from off camera, then Casey came and sat beside her mother.

"Yeah, I know. It held up the bus for like forty-five minutes; we almost missed the plane." Alya readjusted her position and sat up cross-legged against her headboard.

Ellie wrestled Casey to get into the view of the camera. "How's your **_boy_** -" She said the word with piles of emphasises. "-friend?"

Alya smiled at her sisters. "He's great." In all honesty Alya knew that her and Nino were on thin ice- but she would rather her parents not know that.

"Casey, Ellie, I think it's time that you two get your homework done. Alya honey, enjoy your time in China!"

"Miss you! Bye guys!" She waved at her phone and her family on the other side of the world."

They waved back and closed the call.

Alya laid back against her head board and closed her eyes. She breathed slowly. Alya wondered how her sisters thought her relationship with Nino was. She would have to talk to him at some point.

She stood and pocketed her phone. "Now or never."

Alya didn't bother knocking on the door to Adrien and Nino's room, she just walked in. There, on their beds were the boys. Nino had his headphones on and was tapping his hand along to his music. Adrien sat, reading out of some sort of textbook.

Nino looked up momentarily to see her enter, then looked down to the side. At least he took his head phones off one of his ears.

"Guess you're here to see Adrien?" Said Nino, dryly.

Alya bit the inside of her cheek. "No. I'm here to see you."

Adrien look from one of them to the other quickly. The irritation between them was obvious. He stood up awkwardly. "I'm- uh- going to check if Natalie is here yet. She said she'd be here today." Adrien grabbed his bag and left briskly.

Nino removed his headphones. "Alright, what's going on with you and Adrien?"

"I can't tell you." She crossed her arms defensively. "I'm sorry but I think it could put you in danger."

"Danger?" He raised an eyebrow. "What, you picking fights with the Yakuza now?"

Alya rolled her eyes. "Nino, The Yakuza are Japanese, not Chinese."

He raised his hands. "You get my point. Whatever it is you shouldn't get to close to this."

"It's my job, Nino. I'm a reporter." Alya said.

His voice turned cold. "Reporters report. They inform others on what's happening. They tell the truth."

She leaned against a set of drawers and spoke softly. "Maybe the truth isn't important."

Nino looked at her with apprehension. "Who are you and what have you done to Alya?"

Alya dug in her heels. "The truth doesn't matter as long as everyone is happy!"

He stood and gestured to his chest. " _I'm_ not happy Alya!"

Nino looked tired and angry, just like he did in her dream the night before. "You need to trust me. I can keep your secrets."

Alya felt her eyes begin to water; she struggled to stop herself from crying. "There not my secrets to tell. _You_ need to trust me that it's better if you don't know."

She left quickly, not wanting Nino to see her cry. Unfortunately, things weren't much better in the hallway.

Chloe and Sabrina were in the hallway walking toward their room. Chloe's voice dripped with mock pity. "Awww… Did you have a fight with your boyfriend?"

Alya had had enough. She lunged forward and punched Chloe square in the face.

Chloe- on the ground- took her hands away from her nose slowly, her mind processing what happened. Her hand came away with blood that was now flowing freely from her nose. Alya's fist, too, had Chloe's blood on it.

Alya took two hesitant steps backward, then sprinted full speed back to her hotel room.

She went to the small well-lit bathroom inside of the hotel room and sat on the toilet lid. Alya slung off her shoulder bag.

Now, she let herself cry.

A sob racked her body as she shook, alone fully for the first time on the trip.

Things were a mess; Nino was pissed at her, she was going to get in shit for punching Chloe, and she knew about some sort of giant superhero war that she couldn't tell anyone about, not even her best friend, Marinette. Alya had even agreed to help Adrien find ladybug, which would completely shatter Marinette's confidence on ever being with him.

Alya struggled to catch her breath. She grabbed a hotel towel to wipe her tears on.

All her negative energy had been released, making Alya just feel empty. She stood and tuned on the shower head. Maybe a shower would help her to calm down.


	6. A light in Shanghai

Alya finished her shower and got changed. She wiped away the condensation on the mirror and played with the ends of her hair- it would soon be in need of a re-dye.

Alya gathered up the pile of her dirty clothing, but something she had never seen before fell to the ground; a box.

She picked it up.

The box was small, black, and hexagonal. The top had delicate brown swirls painted on to it. The box reminded her of a ring-box for a goth proposal. Alya moved her other hand slowly to open the lid.

"Alya!"

She spun to see Juleka and a very frazzled Rose in the doorway.

Rose ran up and hugged Alya. "Thank god you're okay!

"Okay?" Alya asked. "What do you mean?"

Alya didn't know how much they knew about what had happened. Were they here about her fight with Nino? Her fight with Chloe? Apparently neither.

"There's been an Akuma attack." Juleka's voice was as low as usual, but now she spoke quickly.

"An Akuma attack?" Alya was taken aback. She put the ring-box down inside of her suitcase. "In Shanghai? That's never happened before! Akuma Attacks are always in Paris!"

Juleka shrugged. "Not this time."

"It's like a crazy huge, white dragon!" Rose through her arms above her head to communicate the height. It used to be Marinette's cousin! He changed right inside of the dining room! Now He's flying around the roof!"

Juleka put her hand on Roses shoulder to calm her, then looked to Alya. "Everyone's hiding in the basement now."

"Have you seen Marinette?" Rose asked. "We came up here looking for both of you."

Alya now shared Rose's panic. "No. I haven't seen her for a couple of hours."

A boom emitted from the floors above, and the whole building shook. Alya leaned backward onto her bed for support while the two girls hugged onto each other to remain standing.

Alya grabbed her phone moved quickly, ushering the girls into the hallway. "You two keep looking for Marinette; if you find her call me, if you can't, go hide with the others." She took two steps away from them. "I'm going to go up to the roof to get a better view of the Akuma. If I see Marinette I'll send her down."

Rose brought her arms up to her chest. "Alya, you can't! This Akuma is huge! And- and powerful! Ladybug and Chat Noir are still in Paris! Things are super dangerous out there!"

Almost as if to prove her point, another boom shook the walls. Dust powdered their hair.

Still, Alya back-peddled away from them. "Don't worry about me. Someone's got to document the Akuma. Oh, and if you think the building is going to collapse, stand in a doorway; it's the least likely place to collapse on you." She pivoted and dashed down the hall toward the dining room.

Unlike it's previous bright, open concept state, the dining room was now cold and very dark. The giant window that made up the long wall had been thoroughly shattered. There was no glass on the floor, telling Alya that it must have been broken from the inside.

She looked down at her feet. This is where Collin must have been akumatized. Alya knew he had been fighting with his father. Collin must have been filled with so much rage and hate that he could have been easily corrupted. She could imagine him morphing into a dragon and projecting himself into the night sky.

A strong wind howled through the broken glass, and over her face. Alya shivered. She knew what it was like to be akumatized. When she was first changed back from Lady Wifi, Alya remembered nothing, but later after she had seen the footage of herself the memories came back. Memories of a crazed rage, memories of intense pain and anger- not pleasant stuff.

And that's when it hit her- Alya had almost become akumatized again. In her fight with Nino, or when she punched Chloe, Alya was angry enough that she could have easily be taken over by a butterfly of death.

As she jogged towards the central stairs, Alya wondered what would happen if she was akumatized again. Would she once again become Lady Wifi, or become a whole new villain? Would the Akuma be kept in her phone again, or some where new?

Alya took the stairs two at a time. The hotel was wider than it was tall, and there were only ten floors. The dining room was on the fifth floor, so she had a good distance to go.

Drastically out of breath, Alya burst out the door to the rooftop. She put her hands on her knees and took a breathed deeply for a second.

A very short second.

A pterodactyl-like screech exploded to her left. Alya turned to see a hurling white mass of pissed-off dragon speeding towards her. The dragons face was thirty percent white fur, thirty percent teeth, thirty percent glowing pearlescent scales, and one hundred percent rage.

Alya hit the deck immediately, narrowly missing the maw of the ferocious beast. She held her breath and felt her muscles contract as she pressed, wide eyed, into the ground, away from the dragon flying over her. There were inches between her and it. Alya didn't dare reach out to touch it.

Her hands stung from the small gravel that covered the rooftop, but the adenine of the close encounter made the pain disappear.

The long white serpent passed, and flew toward the center of the city, it weaved between the architecturally beautiful skyscrapers. Alya ran to the edge of the roof, bringing out her phone to document the magnificent, dangerous Chinese dragon.

"You need to get to safety!" Chat Noir said, suddenly landing beside her.

She ignored his advice. "How will you stop the Akuma without Ladybug? You can't trap it!"

He perched on the building ledge, and looked towards the beast with desperation "I'll have to try!" He turned back to Alya. "Maybe I can destroy the butterfly with a Cataclysm?"

Ladybug's voice echoed from behind them. "What, you think you could have a party without me?"

Alya turned, both exited and relieved. "Ladybug! You're here!"

The Heroine walked toward them confidently, like there wasn't a giant serpent flying around just blocks away.

Chat Noir laughed and stood. "If you're here, and I'm here; then who's protecting Paris?"

He may have been joking, but he was right; Paris was completely defenceless. Hawkmoth could have done severe damage to the city with them gone, but instead he followed them to Shanghai. Obtaining the miraculous was obviously more important to Hawkmoth than taking over the world.

Alya crouched behind an electricity generator and held her phone steady. The two heroes launched towards the white serpent.

Chat Noir extended his staff to poll-jump onto the beast. Unfortunately, his claws couldn't get a good latch onto the sleek pearl scales. Chat Noir scrambled to get a grip as he slid backward. Finally, he grabbed the tuff of fur on the end of the serpent's tail.

Ladybug grappled from a nearby skyscraper to the dragon, attaching her yoyo around on of the spikes on the dragon's upper-back. She slowly worked her way up the cord to the spike.

White Serpent began to spin violently, trying to shake off the unwanted riders. Chat Noir lost his grip and began to tumble downwards into the city.

Ladybug threw her yoyo towards him. He grabbed it and she yanked him forward. He shot through the air towards the head of the dragon. He extended his staff, which hooked onto the horns of the dragon.

The dragon roared deafeningly and shook its head. Chat Noir pressed his heels down and pulled his poll backward to direct the white serpent. The dragon struggled and veered back toward the hotel.

It crashed into the building with immense force. The dragon skidded across the top of the roof, grating into the gravel.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug said, rolling to her feet. "If you use Cataclysm, I can-"

"Wait!"

The urgent voice came from the back of the rooftop. Alya readjusted her phone to encompass the newcomer.

It was an older woman, clad head to toe in white. It was another super hero- and one Alya had actually seen before. This hero was a much older version of the dove Miraculous Alya had seen in the photo at the museum. The dove necklace she wore was much alike the one in the display case, but only made of a white marble not silver.

"This doesn't have to end in violence." Dove raised her winged arms to the snarling serpent. A soft white light emanated from her hands towards the dragon. "Calm your fury, White Serpent."

The rage in the dragon's face ebbed and its claw opened to reveal a piece of paper. It closed its eyes and laid still, as if sleeping.

Dove looked to Ladybug. "The Akuma should be in that paper. It was Collin's university acceptance letter. You must purify it."

Ladybug acted quickly, ripping the page, and catching the black butterfly in her yoyo. The newly white butterfly floated gracefully into the dark night sky.

Chat Noir seemed suspicious of the new hero. "Who are you?" He had been tricked by false heroes before.

"I am someone too old to fight. My name is Dove." She lifted the unconscious boy, and although he was a good two feet taller than her, Dove lifted Collin with ease. Looking to Ladybug and Chat Noir, she spoke. "I wish you good luck young heroes, but I must bid you farewell."

Her cape unfurrowed once again into wings. She pushed off the ground and rocketed skyward.

Ladybug turned to her partner. "Why are _you_ in Shanghai, Chat Noir?"

"I'll be wherever you need me." Chat Noir walked backward towards the edge of the roof. He bowed comedically from his waist, then backflipped gracefully off the roof into the sparling city.

The heroine smiled and shook her head. Then, Ladybug jumped nimbly to a higher part of the roof.

Alya had many questions to ask her. Mainly, why Ladybug was in Shanghai. Had she followed the class to China, knowing Adrien was Chat Noir? Had she come knowing Hawkmoth had followed him?

What better way to find out the answers than to ask Ladybug herself?

Alya put her phone away. She climbed up onto a generator to get to the higher section of the roof. Alya had to be careful with her hands still being tender.

She swung her legs over onto the other roof. "Ladybug! I have some questions!"

A bright flash of pink light lit up the rooftops. And there, after Alya's eyes had readjusted to the dark was Marinette with a red Kwami floating beside her.

Alya and Marinette locked eyes, slowly comprehending what just happened. Marinette was Ladybug, and Alya now knew.

Fuck.


	7. Tired

Marinette ran up to Alya, her voice pleading. "You can't tell anyone!"

Alya was in complete hysterics. "OH MY GOD! HOW DID I NOT NOTICE? I run a blog about Ladybug and somehow didn't realise it was my best friend?"

Her head cleared for her to find out what this meant. Marinette liked Adrien. Adrien liked ladybug. Marinette was Ladybug. All the pieces were lined up for a perfect fairy-tale ending. This was something Alya had to tell her. "I know who Chat Noir is!"

"I don't want to know."

"Yes, you do!"

Marinette crossed her arms. " _No_ , I don't."

Alya laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, yeah you do."

The girl covered her ears. "Alya, Stop!"

"He loves you."

Marinette's voice hardened. "I don't care! I don't like him. Don't tell me who he is." She walked past Alya. "I'm heading back inside."

Alya bit her cheek. Her friend was too stubborn to listen to reason. If Marinette really didn't want to know, Alya wouldn't tell her. Either way, Alya had promised that she wouldn't tell anyone who Chat Noir was.

It all was a mess, no doubt- but a mess that Alya didn't feel like dealing with at the moment. She ran up to join her friend.

The two of them walked together back to the dining hall, which had been fixed at the end of the battle.

Mrs. Bustier ran up to them, flustered but obviously relieved. "Thank god you two are okay! Where have you girls been?!"

Alya shrugged and looked her in the eye. "We were up on the roof recording the fight."

"You were WHAT?!" The teacher threw her hands into the air. "Alya, you can't just chase after monsters! You're putting your lives in danger! You're putting my job in danger! And after you hit another student? Chloe will in no way let that go. If I had half a mind I'd send to back to Paris."

"Damn straight." Said Chloe, who had come up beside the teacher.

Mari laughed quietly under her breath and looked to Alya in disbelief. "You did what?"

Alya didn't laugh. She didn't smile. She didn't want to deal with Chloe. She didn't want to fight tonight.

Alya approached the blonde, whose nose was slightly bruised. "I'm sorry Chloe, I was wrong to hit you."

Alya was sincere in this moment, and Chloe was obviously surprised. Her face softened slightly, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Alya turned away. "I've had a long day, I'm heading back to the hotel room."

* * *

Alya changed into her pyjamas and got ready for bed, she was drained. She switched off the main light in the room and turned on the small bedside lamp. Alya laid down on her bed.

Things had been crazy; In the last twenty-four hours she had found out that two of her friends were superheroes and her role models, learned about some sort of godly war, and had a fight with her boyfriend.

Marinette and Adrien obviously liked each other, but Marinette was too stubborn to listen and hear that her crush liked her back. Alya could easily just tell her anyway, but what if it didn't work out? Then the fault would be on Alya's shoulders.

She reached off the side of the bed into her suitcase for her phone but her hand landed on something else- the hexagonal ring box. She had been meaning to inspect it before the Akuma attack.

She popped it open and an orange orb flew out.

Surprised, Alya backhanded it, but her hand passed through it like it was air. She scrambled backward onto the bed.

Panting and standing on the bed, Alya got a good look at the floating object- it was a Kwami, with a sort of Fox design.

It spoke with a feminine voice. "Oh, calm down. Why is everyone always afraid when they first see me?"

Alya climbed off the bed cautiously. "So, you're a Kwami?"

"No shit, Sherlock." It rolled its eyes. "I'm Trixx, Kwami of Illusions."

"Alya, nice to meet you. Wait-"Alya cursed under her breath. "Fu must have put your box in my bag when I wasn't looking.

Trixx nodded. "That seems like something he would do. But that's not important! I'm here to make you the new Volpina! You're a superhero now!

"Who the hell in this city isn't?"She fell backward limply on her bed and closed her eyes.

Trixx floated over Alya's face, her tone was slightly offended. "You're the first human I've had who hasn't been delighted they had me. You should be ecstatic!"

She knew what she had heard was great news. Alya had looked up to super heroes since she had been little- and now she had been offered to be one. But she just felt tired.

"You're as mopey as Duseu! What's wrong?"

The girl sighed and sat up crossed legged on the bed. She dodged the question by asking her own. "Wasn't there already a Volpina?"

Trixx rolled her eyes and crossed her tiny arms. "She was a fake- and a bad one. Anything she made turned into Cheeto dust when it was touched. It was pathetic! She was basically defeated by pigeons!"

Alya snickered. "You're not wrong." She paused. "Thank god Lila Isn't here."

Lila had opted out of the trip to Shanghai, to instead go on a multi-million-dollar trip to Italy. The girl had only gone to school with them a month and had already brought two different emotions out of Alya. At first Alya was impressed; Lila had claimed to be good friends with Ladybug, and later became a superhero herself. But Lila turned out to be a liar- something that Alya hated- something that Alya was slowly becoming.

"I can make nine solid illusions, infinite untouchable illusions. The solid illusions will act completely like they're real; smell, feel, taste and all that. They can take as much damage as the real thing. Untouchable illusions are just that. All of them can think on their own, but you can control them too, if you want."

Alya frowned. "How do I even create illusions? More importantly how do I change into Volpina?"

Trixx zoomed over to the ring box she had come out of, and lugged it over. "The simple illusions will come naturally. As for transforming you'll need to put this on before you can do anything."

In Trixx's box was a necklace with a flat metal charm of a fox's tail. Alya inspected it for a moment before putting it around her neck. She fumbled with the small latch.

"Lift up your hair, I'll help you."

Alya complied, and the creature did the latch with her tiny hands. Trixx continued to talk. "Whenever you want to transform just say "Trick me out"."

Alya raised her eyebrows at the cheesy saying . "Trick me ou-?"

Trixx flew around and placed her hands on Alya's mouth. "Don't say it now! What are you, crazy?"

The Kwami backed up. "After you make all nine solid illusions you'll only have five minutes till you detransform. Also, in between transformations I have to eat. Meat is good."

Alya rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Meat? What if I don't have any?"

"Then we don't transform."

The sound of the door creaking open made Trixx zoom into Alya's bag.

Marinette came in. The two girl's eyes didn't meet. Marinette began to get changed into her pajamas, and Alya turned away politely.

"I'm sorry for putting all this pressure on you." Marinette said, putting on her top.

Alya shrugged. "It's fine, at this point I should be used to it."

Marinette got into the other bed and curled up under her covers. Her voice was small. "You know, you were almost Ladybug."

Alya sat up in surprise. "What? Why?"

The girl wouldn't look at her. "At first I didn't think I had it in me to be a superhero. I'm still not sure if I do. You're so brave, and you played a big part in beating Stoneheart…" She trailed off.

Alya had never seen herself as being brave. She just did what needed to be done. It's not as if she had been fighting the Akuma. Alya, for the most part, only watched from the sidelines. But she knew that was about to change. And that scared her.

"Mari, whether you believe it or not, you are the bravest person I know. You go out every week and fight evil. And you can even stand up to Chloe, whose at least ten times scarier."

Marinette giggled softly. "Thank you, Alya."

Alya turned off the bedside lamp; sleep was long due.


	8. Assumptions

Alya finished her shower and got changed. She wiped away the condensation on the mirror and played with the ends of her hair- it would soon be in need of a re-dye.

Alya gathered up the pile of her dirty clothing, but something she had never seen before fell to the ground; a box.

She picked it up.

The box was small, black, and hexagonal. The top had delicate brown swirls painted on to it. The box reminded her of a ring-box for a goth proposal. Alya moved her other hand slowly to open the lid.

"Alya!"

She spun to see Juleka and a very frazzled Rose in the doorway.

Rose ran up and hugged Alya. "Thank god you're okay!

"Okay?" Alya asked. "What do you mean?"

Alya didn't know how much they knew about what had happened. Were they here about her fight with Nino? Her fight with Chloe? Apparently neither.

"There's been an Akuma attack." Juleka's voice was as low as usual, but now she spoke quickly.

"An Akuma attack?" Alya was taken aback. She put the ring-box down inside of her suitcase. "In Shanghai? That's never happened before! Akuma Attacks are always in Paris!"

Juleka shrugged. "Not this time."

"It's like a crazy huge, white dragon!" Rose through her arms above her head to communicate the height. It used to be Marinette's cousin! He changed right inside of the dining room! Now He's flying around the roof!"

Juleka put her hand on Roses shoulder to calm her, then looked to Alya. "Everyone's hiding in the basement now."

"Have you seen Marinette?" Rose asked. "We came up here looking for both of you."

Alya now shared Rose's panic. "No. I haven't seen her for a couple of hours."

A boom emitted from the floors above, and the whole building shook. Alya leaned backward onto her bed for support while the two girls hugged onto each other to remain standing.

Alya grabbed her phone moved quickly, ushering the girls into the hallway. "You two keep looking for Marinette; if you find her call me, if you can't, go hide with the others." She took two steps away from them. "I'm going to go up to the roof to get a better view of the Akuma. If I see Marinette I'll send her down."

Rose brought her arms up to her chest. "Alya, you can't! This Akuma is huge! And- and powerful! Ladybug and Chat Noir are still in Paris! Things are super dangerous out there!"

Almost as if to prove her point, another boom shook the walls. Dust powdered their hair.

Still, Alya back-peddled away from them. "Don't worry about me. Someone's got to document the Akuma. Oh, and if you think the building is going to collapse, stand in a doorway; it's the least likely place to collapse on you." She pivoted and dashed down the hall toward the dining room.

Unlike it's previous bright, open concept state, the dining room was now cold and very dark. The giant window that made up the long wall had been thoroughly shattered. There was no glass on the floor, telling Alya that it must have been broken from the inside.

She looked down at her feet. This is where Collin must have been akumatized. Alya knew he had been fighting with his father. Collin must have been filled with so much rage and hate that he could have been easily corrupted. She could imagine him morphing into a dragon and projecting himself into the night sky.

A strong wind howled through the broken glass, and over her face. Alya shivered. She knew what it was like to be akumatized. When she was first changed back from Lady Wifi, Alya remembered nothing, but later after she had seen the footage of herself the memories came back. Memories of a crazed rage, memories of intense pain and anger- not pleasant stuff.

And that's when it hit her- Alya had almost become akumatized again. In her fight with Nino, or when she punched Chloe, Alya was angry enough that she could have easily be taken over by a butterfly of death.

As she jogged towards the central stairs, Alya wondered what would happen if she was akumatized again. Would she once again become Lady Wifi, or become a whole new villain? Would the Akuma be kept in her phone again, or some where new?

Alya took the stairs two at a time. The hotel was wider than it was tall, and there were only ten floors. The dining room was on the fifth floor, so she had a good distance to go.

Drastically out of breath, Alya burst out the door to the rooftop. She put her hands on her knees and took a breathed deeply for a second.

A very short second.

A pterodactyl-like screech exploded to her left. Alya turned to see a hurling white mass of pissed-off dragon speeding towards her. The dragons face was thirty percent white fur, thirty percent teeth, thirty percent glowing pearlescent scales, and one hundred percent rage.

Alya hit the deck immediately, narrowly missing the maw of the ferocious beast. She held her breath and felt her muscles contract as she pressed, wide eyed, into the ground, away from the dragon flying over her. There were inches between her and it. Alya didn't dare reach out to touch it.

Her hands stung from the small gravel that covered the rooftop, but the adenine of the close encounter made the pain disappear.

The long white serpent passed, and flew toward the center of the city, it weaved between the architecturally beautiful skyscrapers. Alya ran to the edge of the roof, bringing out her phone to document the magnificent, dangerous Chinese dragon.

"You need to get to safety!" Chat Noir said, suddenly landing beside her.

She ignored his advice. "How will you stop the Akuma without Ladybug? You can't trap it!"

He perched on the building ledge, and looked towards the beast with desperation "I'll have to try!" He turned back to Alya. "Maybe I can destroy the butterfly with a Cataclysm?"

Ladybug's voice echoed from behind them. "What, you think you could have a party without me?"

Alya turned, both exited and relieved. "Ladybug! You're here!"

The Heroine walked toward them confidently, like there wasn't a giant serpent flying around just blocks away.

Chat Noir laughed and stood. "If you're here, and I'm here; then who's protecting Paris?"

He may have been joking, but he was right; Paris was completely defenceless. Hawkmoth could have done severe damage to the city with them gone, but instead he followed them to Shanghai. Obtaining the miraculous was obviously more important to Hawkmoth than taking over the world.

Alya crouched behind an electricity generator and held her phone steady. The two heroes launched towards the white serpent.

Chat Noir extended his staff to poll-jump onto the beast. Unfortunately, his claws couldn't get a good latch onto the sleek pearl scales. Chat Noir scrambled to get a grip as he slid backward. Finally, he grabbed the tuff of fur on the end of the serpent's tail.

Ladybug grappled from a nearby skyscraper to the dragon, attaching her yoyo around on of the spikes on the dragon's upper-back. She slowly worked her way up the cord to the spike.

White Serpent began to spin violently, trying to shake off the unwanted riders. Chat Noir lost his grip and began to tumble downwards into the city.

Ladybug threw her yoyo towards him. He grabbed it and she yanked him forward. He shot through the air towards the head of the dragon. He extended his staff, which hooked onto the horns of the dragon.

The dragon roared deafeningly and shook its head. Chat Noir pressed his heels down and pulled his poll backward to direct the white serpent. The dragon struggled and veered back toward the hotel.

It crashed into the building with immense force. The dragon skidded across the top of the roof, grating into the gravel.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug said, rolling to her feet. "If you use Cataclysm, I can-"

"Wait!"

The urgent voice came from the back of the rooftop. Alya readjusted her phone to encompass the newcomer.

It was an older woman, clad head to toe in white. It was another super hero- and one Alya had actually seen before. This hero was a much older version of the dove Miraculous Alya had seen in the photo at the museum. The dove necklace she wore was much alike the one in the display case, but only made of a white marble not silver.

"This doesn't have to end in violence." Dove raised her winged arms to the snarling serpent. A soft white light emanated from her hands towards the dragon. "Calm your fury, White Serpent."

The rage in the dragon's face ebbed and its claw opened to reveal a piece of paper. It closed its eyes and laid still, as if sleeping.

Dove looked to Ladybug. "The Akuma should be in that paper. It was Collin's university acceptance letter. You must purify it."

Ladybug acted quickly, ripping the page, and catching the black butterfly in her yoyo. The newly white butterfly floated gracefully into the dark night sky.

Chat Noir seemed suspicious of the new hero. "Who are you?" He had been tricked by false heroes before.

"I am someone too old to fight. My name is Dove." She lifted the unconscious boy, and although he was a good two feet taller than her, Dove lifted Collin with ease. Looking to Ladybug and Chat Noir, she spoke. "I wish you good luck young heroes, but I must bid you farewell."

Her cape unfurrowed once again into wings. She pushed off the ground and rocketed skyward.

Ladybug turned to her partner. "Why are _you_ in Shanghai, Chat Noir?"

"I'll be wherever you need me." Chat Noir walked backward towards the edge of the roof. He bowed comedically from his waist, then backflipped gracefully off the roof into the sparling city.

The heroine smiled and shook her head. Then, Ladybug jumped nimbly to a higher part of the roof.

Alya had many questions to ask her. Mainly, why Ladybug was in Shanghai. Had she followed the class to China, knowing Adrien was Chat Noir? Had she come knowing Hawkmoth had followed him?

What better way to find out the answers than to ask Ladybug herself?

Alya put her phone away. She climbed up onto a generator to get to the higher section of the roof. Alya had to be careful with her hands still being tender.

She swung her legs over onto the other roof. "Ladybug! I have some questions!"

A bright flash of pink light lit up the rooftops. And there, after Alya's eyes had readjusted to the dark was Marinette with a red Kwami floating beside her.

Alya and Marinette locked eyes, slowly comprehending what just happened. Marinette was Ladybug, and Alya now knew.

Fuck.


	9. Out in the Open

Alya's plan was stupidly simple; get both Marinette and Adrien on the roof, and coax them into revealing themselves. And though the plan was simple, it would in no way be easy. Both friends would be very weary to give away their identities, and Marinette would most likely freeze in front of Adrien- but either way Alya still had to try. Without her they would probably keep dancing around the subject endlessly, without either ever learning the truth.

She sent the same text to both Marinette and Adrien.

Can we meet on the roof for lunch? We need to talk abt the hero situation. -Alya

Alya waited on the roof for her friends. She sat on the edge, looking down at the people below. Although she was on the other side of the world, the people moved just the same as back home; with purpose. Everyone knew where they were going, and what they were going to do.

A couple days ago Alya had felt the same way, everything had seemed so simple and laid out. She had a great boyfriend and decent grades, and she was on route to becoming a big-time News reporter. The Ladyblog had become a hit and some days out-preformed Paris's actual news sites. Two months ago, Alya had been in the paper for being one of France's top young entrepreneurs.

But Alya's plans and position seemed so different now; she had demasked superheroes, and had even become one herself. Nino was mad at her and he wasn't even in the wrong. Could she still become a reporter? Or was being a superhero to big of a task? Superman and Spiderman seemed to manage.

Marinette opened the door to the roof. "Contemplating mankind?"

"You could say that." Alya got up from her perch on the roof's edge.

The door opened again. Adrien emerged, digging into his satchel. "Sorry I'm late. It took me a while to get away from Natalie. I brought the book." He looked up, seeing Marinette. His speech slowed. "What's going on Alya?" He was obviously suspicious.

The only way to solve the dilemma of the love square was to get everything out in the open. And Alya believed there was only one way to do it without outing the others' identities herself. She had promised she wouldn't tell anyone who they were- so they would have to do it themselves.

Alya acted quickly. She tapped her necklace and called to her Kwami. "Trick me out!"

Orange light raced up her body, enveloping her in a strangely familiar warmth. She looked down at her tingling fingertips. Alya had become the new Volpina.

She rubbed her index finger and thumb together, feeling the surprisingly sturdy spandex. Her neck, arms and legs were black, ending in V shapes facing inward. The rest of her, all but her white front, was a proud orange. Behind Volpina, emerged a smooth, light-weight, cloth fox tail. He hair had become a deeper red and melted to a starch white at the ends. Her hair also seemed longer and wilder. The extra weight on her head also indicated that she had large fox ears.

Volpina felt at them, marveled at their workings. She could hear out her normal ears, which were covered by her hair, but she could also hear out her fox ears, which amplified the sound around her greatly. Sounds like her friends' gasps.

Adrien's eyes widened. "Ha- how long have you had a miraculous?"

Marinette only stammered.

Alya could feel Trixx's personality mixing in with her own. She felt more coy and sarcastic than she had ever before. "Only a day and a bit." She flicked her chin toward Marinette. "It's your turn."

Her face held a bit of confusion, and a shit-ton of fear. "I don't know about this…"

Adrien stepped forward. "What's going on?"

Volpina ignored him. She spoke to the girl, her voice sturdy. "Marinette, you are my best friend, I would never set you up for failure. I've put myself out on the line, and now you gotta be brave. You can trust me."

Marinette's face hardened. "Tikki," She said. "Spots on."

A bright pink glow spread down Marinette's body from her ears. The light dissipated, showing Ladybug's costume.

Adrien was the one who was stammering now. "Ladybug- Marinette? How?"

Ladybug's face became almost as red as her suit.

Adrien was breathless. " _You're_ who I've been flirting with?"

She met his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Adrien excitedly called to Plagg. "Claws out!"

The three heroes stood together on the roof, all with varying emotional states.

Volpina placed her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm glad _that's_ all out in the open."

Though Ladybug did not seem in the least bit glad. Quite on the contrary, Ladybug looked mortified. She took a step backwards, her mouth wide.

She detransformed, and the other two quickly followed her lead.

"Plagg!" Tikki zoomed forward and hugged the other Kwami.

Plagg wrestled from Tikki's grip. "Get off!" But unfitting to his irritated voice, he smiled.

Trixx flew up beside them. "What am I, chopped liver?"

Plagg laughed. "It's always about the meat with you, isn't it?"

Tikki giggled, but paused when she noticed she was being pulled backwards by an invisible force.

Tikki must have not been able to stray to far from her earrings, for Marinette had begun to walk back towards the door. Her pace was fast, and her head was hung low.

Adrien stepped forward. "Marinette, stop."

She broke out into a run and fled downstairs.

Adrien panicked. "Ladybug, she hates me!"

Alya put her hand on his shoulder. "No, she doesn't. Marinette has loved you all year."

Adrien ran his hand through his hair. "I knew she had a crush but-"

Alya interrupted him. "I have to go see if she's okay, but there's a lot more to tell you; Hawkmoth is your uncle."

He raised his eyebrows. "I have and uncle?"

Alya looked at him briefly before running after her friend. "There's a lot more! We'll talk later!"

She sprinted down the stairs three at a time, and almost tripped twice before she got to her floor. Alya prayed that Marinette had fled to the hotel room; Alya wasn't sure where else to look.

Her instincts had been correct. Alya opened the door to the hotel room to find Marinette over on her bed, crying.

Marinette wiped her tears on her arm and sniffled. "I guess I don't know Adrien like I thought I did."

Alya sat on the bed beside her. She spoke softly. "He loves you."

She scoffed. "He loves Ladybug!"

Tikki landed on the pillow, giggling. "You _are_ ladybug!"

Marinette sat up angrily. "No, _YOU_ are ladybug! You are everything that makes me special! I'm not brave like Ladybug. And now Adrien knows it was me who kept brushing him off as Ladybug!"

Alya sighed and flopped limply onto her back. "You're not the only one with boy problems. Nino is pissed at me for keeping secrets. This isn't something I can just tell him! I'm a Superhero now! God, I don't even know how to fight!"

Marinette seemed to calm a little. "Neither did I at first, it just came to me when I transformed."

"How will I run the Ladyblog now? If I give too little information, people will get suspicious or stop watching too much information and people might find out."

Trixx landed on her stomach. "Then get better at lying!"

"I don't want to have to lie to people!" Alya groaned and put her hands over her face. "How did I even get you as a Kwami?"

Marinette wiped her eyes with a Kleenex. "It seems like people have opposite personalities than their Kwamis; Tikki's brave and lucky, Plaugg's careless, Trixx lies, Nooroo's selfless-"

Alya nodded, adding a piece to the mental puzzle "-Dusuu's emotional, which Gabriel is not at all."

"What Kwami have yet to be given out?"

Alya stretched. "I don't know about the lesser Kwami, but for the minor Kwami, the Bee hasn't been given to someone." She sat up, and leaned against her arms. "Queen Bee would probably be good at leading people."

Marinette messed up her face. "The person farthest from that would be Chloe."

"Ew!" Alya giggled. "She's even a queen bee."

Her friend scowled. "I would die before I would let Chloe become a Superhero."

"Don't worry, it's not like **_that_** would ever happen."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket- the message was from Nino.

 _I'm sorry for yesterday, I overreacted. You are your own person. You don't need to tell me everything. Last night during the attack I was so worried you were hurt. I felt so dumb hiding downstairs. I'm sorry. -Nino_

She texted him back.

 _It's not your fault. You were right to b mad. I would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes. i really do want to tell you what's going on. I should be the one saying sorry. -Alya_

 _Do u want to meet for lunch? -Nino_

Alya had forgotten that through all this commotion, she hadn't actually eaten. She briefly looked up at Marinette. Alya had forced her friend into a terrible situation, so it was her job to fix it.

 _Yeah. Meet me in the dining hall. Bring Adrien, I need your help_

 _with something. -Alya_


	10. Changes for the better

By the time Alya had convinced Marinette to go to lunch, Nino and Adrien had been waiting for five minutes.

Adrien stood quickly at Marinette's arrival. "Hey." Even with one word, Alya could tell he was immensely nervous.

"Hi." Marinette was quiet, and didn't meet his eyes.

Alya and Nino were only a bit less awkward, they hadn't talked face to face since their fight the day before.

Nino slid into the wall booth, and the others followed his lead. He spoke to Alya. "Did you get any good shots of Collin as the Serpent Akuma?"

"Yeah," Alya smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Watching the battle was both exhilarating and terrifying. I still have to upload the video. I've been busy."

The table grew ominously quiet. Marinette played with her hair, seeming small. Adrien twisted Chat Noir's ring around his finger.

Nino, obviously uncomfortable by the silence, cleared his throat. "How much did you find out about the new hero? She's like a bird or something."

Alya nodded, she planed her words carefully, trying not to tell him too much. "A dove. She seems pretty old, I think it's cool that Shanghai had its own heroes."

Another moment of awkward silence passed.

Her phone shook in her pocket. Alya took it out to examine her new message.

 _What do I do, Alya? She won't talk to me! -Adri_

While she was reading, her phone buzzed again.

 _Help me! He hates me! -Mari_

Alya felt like another moment of this would kill her. She stood, speaking forcefully. "Alright, enough of this! If you don't start talking, I'll tell Nino the whole story. Everything."

Nino sat forward, obviously liking the idea.

"Alya, you can't!" Adrien objected.

"That's dangerous information!" Marinette agreed.

Alya smirked. "I'll do it..."

"She'll do it…" Nino echoed.

Marinette breathed in sharply. "But-"

"No buts." Alya said. "You two can't just keep hip-hopping around the subject." She took a step away from the table. "Me and Nino are gonna go get some food, and if you two aren't getting chatty by the time we get back, I'm spilling."

The two of them left the booth and made their way towards the buffet. Chloe and Sabrina waited at one end, asking an employee if the food was low-fat or organic.

Nino talked quietly to avoid being over heard by Chloe. "Why are Adrien and Marinette acting so acting weird?"

She sighed. "That's what I need your help with. I tried to get them together- but it didn't quite work out like I thought it would. Now they're being all awkward and won't talk."

Nino shrugged. "That's not too different than Marinette usually acts around Adrien. I thought Adrien liked Ladybug?"

The lie came out of Alya's mouth cleanly. "That was just a cover, he likes Marinette. For a model, he makes a surprisingly good actor." She took a plate from the stack and started piling buffet food onto it.

Nino did the same. "How would you feel about going out to a park or something today? There's nothing that's been scheduled as a class. We got to make the most of the trip."

"Agreed. Do you have a place in mind?" She skewered three pancakes at once with her fork and put them on her plate.

"No but-" He paused laughing. "Really, Alya? Pancakes for lunch?"

Alya faked offence. "There is never a bad time for pancakes."

Alya and Nino made plates for the four of them, and walked back to the booth. At the table Adrien talked quietly, causing Marinette to giggle. They became quiet when the other two arrived.

Alya smiled and slid Marinette's plate across the table. "Don't stop talking on account of us."

After giving Adrien a plate, Nino dug into his own food. He talked with a mouthful of bacon. "Me and Alya were talking about going out to a park today. Do you guys want to come to?"

Adrien nodded, seeming more confident than before. "Sounds like a good plan. It be nice to stretch my legs."

Alya scrolled through google results for recommended parks. "How bout this one?" She read the description. "According to _Time_ magazine's Hannah Beech, Fuxing Gardens is one of the must-see sights in Shanghai." She looked up from the phone. "It's one of the best rated places on the site."

Nino chuckled. "The Fuxing park?"

The four of them giggled immaturely over the name of the garden.

Marinette smiled and found her voice. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

The park was a good distance from the hotel, but the walk was definitely worth it. There were meticulously trimmed greenspaces, vast gardens, and vine covered wire structures over some of the walkways.

Alya and Nino walked a few meters behind Adrien and Marinette, taking in the sights. They had decided to let the others do their own thing; Alya had intervened enough already.

It was late afternoon and the soft wind was warm on their skin. The two stopped and sat at a bench under the wired canopy.

Nino intertwined his fingers with hers. "I want things to stay like this forever."

She smiled. "I'm not sure if forever is long enough."

Alya rested her head on his shoulder. The park was filled with the golden light of the afternoon. She closed her eyes and listened to the breeze rustle through the vines on the canopy. Maybe things would be okay.

Or not.

"Are those birds?" Nino asked worriedly.

Alya brought her head up dazed, to see what her was talking about. Hundreds of thousands of little black objects swarmed over the terrace, blotting out the light of the sun.

She adjusted her glassed and stood. "No, those are butterflies."

The other civilians at the park froze, looking to the sky as well.

Alya swallowed. Could this be because of Hawkmoth? In the past, he had always sent butterflies one by one, to turn people into Akumas, but Alya had never thought there could be this many at once.

She didn't know what was happening, but she knew it wasn't safe to stay. "Nino, we need to go, _now_."

He turned to her. "What about Adrien and Marinette?"

"We don't have time to find them." She raised her voice to call to the other park-goers. "Everyone run! Go! Get out of the park!"

They paused, and turned to her. They looked at her quizzically, not understanding French.

Butterflies began to come down from the sky on mass, dive bombing the people. The people screamed and scattered, inciting chaos in the park.

A teacher struggled to keep a group of school children from panicking. The butterflies swarmed and lifted the teacher and three of the students into the air. They fought and screamed as they were lifted to the center of the park.

There, standing proudly atop a sculpture, stood Hawkmoth. His face held a dark smile.

Nino pulled at Alya's shoulder to get her attention, the pointed to the rest of the class of small children. "We have to help them."

The two teens ran through the storm of insects to the helpless children. Some of the kids were crying, the oldest tried to comfort them in Mandarin.

Alya spoke in a soft voice to the children, beckoning them to follow them. Nino and Alya ushered the young students toward a small shelter away from the danger.

Once inside, Alya rested her head against the door, breathing heavily. "Do you think we'll be safe in here?"

Nino laughed nervously. "There's not really anywhere else we can go." His tone grew serious. "Do you think Hawkmoth is targeting us?"

"What do you mean?"

He adjusted his hat. "Both of us have been akumatized, and in Paris, Akuma attacks are normal- but we're in Shanghai. Half way across the planet! And Hawkmoth happens to be at the same random park we are! And the attack at the hotel? He's got to be targeting us."

The oldest kid pulled at Nino's arm, then pointed outside. "Monamy!"

He kneeled. "What?"

"Mon amy!" The child repeated, more insistent.

"Mon amy?" Alya furrowed her brows. "Wait, they mean "Mon ami"! They're trying to speak French! Their friend's still outside!"

Nino grew worried. "Don't tell me you're going to go back out there."

Alya nodded. "Someone's got to get those kids. And Marinette and Adrien are still out there."

He stood. "Fine, I'll go with you."

"No, you have to keep these kids safe." She hugged him. "I'll be fine, Ladybug and Chat Noir are probably already here, and I can't miss new footage of Hawkmoth." She released the hug and moved toward the exit. "Wish me luck!"

Nino called to her as she left. "Don't get dead!"

* * *

She ducked behind a bush, and put her phone on the ground beside her. After a second of making sure she was out of sight, Alya transformed.

Volpina stretched and flexed, remembering the comfortable fabric.

On instinct, Volpina reached out her hand- out of orange light materialized a long staff-like flute. For a moment, she panicked- Alya had no idea how to play the flute. But did Volpina?

She brought the flute to her mouth. The music flowed from her smoothly and freely. Ash began to swirl lightly around her, drifting with the music. Volpina tried something different. She improvised with the tune, sending faster variations into the music.

The ash swirled faster in front of her, beginning to come together in a solid mass. The ash compressed together into the shape of Alya. The top layer fell away, to show the newly made clone.

Volpina picked up the phone. It felt lighter than she remembered, so much that she tossed it upward while trying to pick it up. She fumbled with it in the air for a moment before catching it.

The clone Alya spoke. "I am the clumsiest hero I've ever seen."

Volpina laughed. "Can't really argue with myself." She handed the copy her phone. "Use this to-"

Clone Alya interrupted her. "-Record the fight. I got you fam. Your knowledge is my knowledge. Go save people."

Volpina nodded and dashed toward the center of the park, where the butterflies were more condensed.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir were already there, fighting intensely to bat away the hundreds of butterflies swarming them.

Hawkmoth smiled. "I know who you are, little cat. You were easy to follow. You're the reason these people are in danger. Give me your miraculous and I will spare these innocent lives."

The same teacher and students from before were being held captive in a living cage of butterflies.

Hawkmoth had still yet to see Volpina. Crouching behind a bench, she brought her flute to her mouth, playing a few short, sharp notes.

Her music created a visual illusion, making Hawkmoth see an enormous fire burst out upon the hostages. Of course, the captives saw and felt nothing of the fire, it not actually existing in the first place.

Hawkmoth yelled out in surprise and retracted the moths from the flame. He brought all the butterflies back toward himself in a defensive action.

The hostages ran toward Ladybug, a familiar face. She pointed them towards the Alya clone, who was recording on the sidelines. The teacher nodded hurriedly and took the children to the reporter.

Chat Noir twirled his baton. "We have a new friend with some serious firepower. It looks like you're a bit-" He paused for effect. " _Matched_."

Volpina revealed herself, she jumped over the bench and brandished her flute as a staff.

Hawkmoth's lips curled. "You two are too weak to properly use your Miraculous, so much that you hide behind other heroes." He formed a cloud of moths, and stepped on. "I have no intention of fighting you all at once."

Volpina stepped forward. "Wait, Felix!"

He turned sharply, speaking with almost a growl. "How do you know my name?"

She continued. "Hawkmoth, I need you help."

"Volpina, what are you doing?" Ladybug asked worriedly.

Volpina took a deep breath, preparing for a leap. "Felix, there is a war coming; something bigger than you and us. The darkness will destroy us all if we don't join together to stop it."

Hawkmoth sneered. "I have heard this plea before. My answer remains the same; if I am given all the Miraculous, then I can defeat the Darkness alone, and bring back the woman I love."

"She's not dead! She just left so you'd leave her family alone!"

"Foolish girl, you were not there that day. You did not see what I saw. You know nothing. Either I fight the Darkness or you do. I will not work with a bunch of children. If you knew what happened the first time the darkness was defeated, you'd know the holders died. In a way, my plan saved you from that fate. Be grateful and give me the Miraculous."

Chat Noir stepped forward. "How stupid do you think we are? You've used the power you already have like a villain. How can we possibly trust you with more?"

Hawkmoth's face softened for a moment. "Your eyes are just as bright as your mother's, but you are just as blind as your father. Thing's are not as black and white as you think they are. I am not the villain here. Your father has done many questionable things. Even you, his own son, already have mixed feelings about him." The moths began to swarm around Hawkmoth, and from inside he said his farewell. "Don't be fooled."

The moths flew away, all in different directions, revealing that Hawkmoth had disappeared.

Chat Noir looked distraught. "Volpina, what do you know about my mom?"

She sighed. "I told you there was a lot more to talk about."


	11. Together

The sun was low in the sky, casting a golden light upon the three heroes. The sun would dip under the trees.

Volpina looked to the clone, who from the bushes she hid behind nodded, then stopped recording. It would probably not be wise to have this information on film.

She tugged at the white tips of her hair. "I don't know much about your mom, but I know she left because she thought she was putting you in danger."

"Left? Do you know where she went?" Chat asked.

"No, but your father probably will." She paused, knowing her next words would land strangely. "Your dad is also the holder of the peacock Miraculous."

"Wait, What?" Chat Noir's face journeyed from puzzlement to amusement to bewilderment. "You're saying my father. _Gabriel Agreste_ , is a superhero? Sources?"

Volpina squinted. "He's not exactly a superhero, he won't use his power. But I'm not the right person to tell you this- your dad should tell you his self. He's- He's in Shanghai too." She didn't wait for the cat's response, turning to Ladybug. "Xiang is also Dove."

Ladybug put her hands on her hips. "Surrrreeee. Xiang, who's so old she takes a full minute to stand up from a chair."

Volpina put her hands up in a comedic defense. "Don't shoot the messenger."

The Alya replica walked up to them. "I got bored. You guys done yet? Nino's probably worrying his head off."

Ladybug looked between Alya and Volpina quizzically. "Now how does this work?

Volpina and the clone spoke in unison. "She's me." The replica then nodded to Volpina, accepting silence. Volpina spoke alone. "A solid illusion I made- makes it a bit easier to be in two places at once."

She brought her flute to her mouth, playing a sweet, low tune. The Clone turned to ash and dissipated, leaving only the phone laying on the ground. All the knowledge gathered by the Illusion flashed into Volpina memories. She could now recall sending the teacher and students to the shelter Nino watched the children at.

Volpina stepped forward and picked the phone up. "She- _I_ \- was right. We should hurry up and detransform. I'd rather not wait till people start to wander back into the park."

They detransformed quickly and Alya lead them toward the shelter Nino kept the kids at.

They entered to see Nino and the teacher entertaining the students, distracting them from the past danger.

"Alya!" Nino stood, and hugged her tightly, picking her up off her feet slightly. She buried her face in his shoulder.

They released the hug. The Chinese teacher tapped the back of Alya's shoulder to get her attention. The teacher took her hand and shook it gratefully. The woman talked very fast, and although Alya spoke no Chinese, the teacher obviously was thanking her.

Many of the children, including the two who were held captive by Hawkmoth, hugged Alya's waist. They cheered thank you's as well.

She was stunned, not doing what else to do but smile. _They think I'm a hero, but not because I'm Volpina. They think I'm a hero as Alya, for going back out for them._

The teacher began to usher the students out the door. A couple children lingered, but still inched slowly out the door.

"Our own teacher will probably be freaking out too" Nino said. "We're gonna get in so much shit for staying out so late."

The four friends left the park as the sun set. They passed bright stores as they walked down the busy Shanghai street.

Alya pulled at Nino's arm. "There's a new superhero!" She said, trying to seem as exited about the news as possible.

Nino raised an eyebrow. "Another one? Didn't we just get the Dove?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but this one will be coming back to Paris with Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"Her name is Volpina- but she's a different Volpina than last time." Adrien added.

Marinette elbowed Alya playfully. "She was pretty cool in action. Alya seemed to like her more than she did Ladybug."

Nino chuckled. "That's hard to believe; Ladybug was your idol. Are you going to change the name of the Ladyblog?"

Alya smirked and shrugged. "Nah, rebranding is a lot of work, and people would probably complain about the change."

By the time they walked though the busy Shanghai streets back to the hotel, it was past 10p.m. The hotel lobby was busy enough that the four of them easily snuck past Mrs. Bustier inside.

Nino rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "Man, I'm exhausted."

Adrien looked to the ground, holding back a smile. "I think I'm going to stay up a bit longer."

Although no one said it, each of the four knew _"I'm going to stay up with Marinette"_ was what Adrien really meant.

Nino smirked, and shrugged. "Don't wake me up when you get in." He walked down the hallway to his room.

Alya, more than anything else wanted to go to bed and leave the new couple to each other, but there was important business to discuss.

"You two better come with me." She said. "There's a lot you need to learn."

They followed Alya to the back room, ready to get as much information as possible. Alya opened the door and lead Marinette and Adrien inside.

Like before, the small library held Xiang, Master Fu, and Gabriel, who all sat at the round table, but now, Natalie and Collin were there as well. Collin sat awkwardly beside his mother at the table, but Natalie stood politely behind her boss, face of stone.

Adrien marched to the table and looked his father dead in the eye. "We need to talk."

Alya had never seen him speak so forcefully to Gabriel before. She was kind of proud of her friend. She didn't know if his confidence as Chat Noir was an act or not, but over the day she had seen small marks of the hero's personality showing in Adrien's character.

Natalie stepped forward formally. "This isn't the best time, Adrien."

Mr. Agreste's voice was tired and a bit gruff. He spoke to his assistant. "No, it's time he knows what is going on."

"Where's mom?" Adrien's confidence had cracked slightly, showing his sadness.

Gabriel cast his eyes downward. "She is in Tibet."

Adrien voice lifted. "Tibet? Can I see her? At least talk to her?"

"No, not till this is over." Gabriel's face again took its usual dismissive tone.

Master Fu spoke softly "Your father is right. She is safer away from all this."

Alya raised an eyebrow. "But, there are so many of us now. Hawkmoth can't fight us all. She wouldn't really be in danger."

Fu frowned. "Hawkmoth is growing more confident; coming out into the public. You have not seen all he can do."

"Can you tell us what we are up against?" Marinette asked him.

Fu's voice was somber and dark. "Nothing is more dangerous as a villain who believes he is playing a hero."

Alya rolled her eyes at his cryptic words. _You'd think he'd be more upfront with the people who are fighting for him._ She thought.

Marinette turned to Xiang. "So, you're the Dove?"

"Not anymore." Xiang nodded towards Collin, who looked embarrassed. He now wore the Dove charm around his neck. "I am old; I can no longer fight the Yaogai. It was time to pass on the mantle."

Alya bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I've got nothing against you Collin, but is that a good idea?" She turned to Master Fu. "He was _just_ Akumatized."

Gabriel almost smiled. "You have been Akumatized too."

Alya leaned her back against the wall. Gabriel was one of the good guys, and her friends' father- But that didn't mean she had to like him.

Marinette turned and spoke to her cousin. "But didn't you want to go and study Chinese history?"

Collin smiled with bright eyes. "I think I'd rather make Chinese history than study it."

"That is not the only change of holders." Fu said.

Gabriel laced his fingers together on the table. "Until further notice, I have decided to give Natalie the peacock miraculous. She will become "Le Paon", and act in my place during only emergencies."

The Master spoke a warning. "The peacock is difficult to master; Dusuu's emotions can be hard to control and direct. It will take much training."

Natalie bowed her head to Fu. "I will do my best."

Fu sighed, suddenly seeming old. "I too, must find a new holder for the turtle miraculous. I am no longer in a place where I can transform."

Alya nodded. "The Bee one needs to be given out too."

"Yeah, but what about all the lesser Miraculous?" Collin asked. "We only have the Major and Minor Miraculous."

Master Fu nodded. "My job, as the Keeper, is to protect the Ladybug, Black Cat, Fox, Bee, Turtle, Peacock, and Butterfly objects until a proper Holder can be found. In all honesty, I do not know if the other, lesser Kwami are needed to seal the Darkness away again. There is a good chance we will come across some of the other holders, but they may be friends or foes."

Alya raised her hand slightly. "I have another question; both Adrien and Marinette's family lines have other holders of the miraculous. When we look for other people to become heroes, do they have to have family ties as well?"

"No, they do not." Gabriel said. "Family ties are not necessary. My grandmother was a noble holder, but my brother turned out to abuse his power, and I so not have the strength to use my own. The lines have also grown thin and few; Heroics is not a safe line of work. Master Fu and I have decided to widen the options."

"Like with you, Alya." Fu gestured towards her. "You are the first holder outside of family ties for over three hundred years."

Natalie cleared her throat, reminding them of her presence. She stepped forward once more. "It is late, I believe that it is time that Adrien gets to bed. You girls should head to your room as well."

She ushered the three out the door, closing it curtly behind her.

The four of them walked awkwardly back towards the students' rooms.

Marinette broke the silence, speaking to Natalie. "If you begin to work with us, will it be for Mr. Agreste, or for the city?"

The woman considered this for a second before answering. "It may not seem like it, but Gabriel is my friend as well as my boss. I believe that he knows what is right, still in this situation, I will not be working for him, but the good of the word." She adjusted her glasses. "I will also be doing everything in my power to keep Adrien safe."

Adrien blushed slightly and looked down at his feet.

Alya smirked. With his strict father, and missing mother, Alya had thought that Adrien had been practically parentless- but this was not the case. Natalie was the closest thing to a parental figure that Adrien had. Alya didn't know how good of a hero Natalie would be, but she trusted that the woman would try her very best.

They reached Marinette and Alya's hotel room. For a moment, it looked like Adrien would try and hug Marinette, but decided against it. Parental figure or no, Natalie would still tell everything she saw to Gabriel. It would probably be better if he didn't know.

"Good night." He said, forcing his hands into his back pockets.

Marinette tucked her hair behind her ear. "Night."

The girls walked in the room and Alya shut the door, instantly breaking out into laughter.

"What?" Marinette asked, beginning to giggle as well.

"Nothing." Alya said, catching her breath. "It's just that this is all so weird and great- I'm a hero, you and Adrien are together, Nino and I aren't fighting anymore, and I got great shots of Hawkmoth- today was amazing! I'm exhausted though."

"Me too." Marinette landed in a heap on her bed. "Let's just go straight to sleep."

Alya sighed. "Can't. I've got a lot of work to do."

The girls turned off the lights and slid into their beds. Alya took out her phone to begun to update Ladyblog. She knew she had her work cut out for her. She had to edit two fights worth of content, and it was already late.

By the time Alya had finished editing together the footage, it was past 3 a.m., and her eyelids were fatigued. She had turned her brightness all the way down, to not wake Marinette, but it still felt to bright in her eyes.

Alya couldn't remember the last time she had felt this exhausted. She turned off her phone and pressed into her pillow, willing herself to sleep. Tomorrow was the last day in Shanghai, and she wanted to drain every bit of fun out of the trip that she could.

This crazy trip was almost over.


	12. Home

Alya woke up feeling like her mouth was full of cotton-balls. She propped herself onto her elbow and took her glasses off the bedside table.

Once again, Marinette had woken up and headed out before Alya had woken up.

Alya swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. She stumbled for a second, still feeling super tired and drowsy.

She got dressed and headed down to the dining hall for breakfast.

Marinette sat alone at their usual booth, smirking. "Well, well, well, how the turn tables. I do remember that the first day we were here you were complaining how I didn't wake up."

Marinette ate from one plate, and slid another towards Alya.

Alya laughed as she sat down. "Well you weren't up till four in the morning editing videos. I only got like four hours of sleep."

"And who's fault is that?" Marinette asked.

"Hawkmoth's." Alya grumbled and stabbed a pancake with her fork. "If he could just lay off for a bit, I wouldn't have to make videos so often."

Marinette smiled. "Don't be too upset, I think you'll be pretty happy about how the videos are doing."

She quirked an eyebrow and unlocked her phone.

Her videos were trending online, and people were in a frenzy theorizing about the info they had gotten.

The public seemed know three things; that Chat Noir's mom was missing, that Hawkmoth's first name was Felix, and that Felix loved Chat Noir's mom.

It was the second one that worried Alya. If people found out who Hawkmoth was, they could probably figure out that Adrien was Chat Noir.

Alya impaled a piece of sausage with her fork and brought it covertly beneath the table for Trixx.

"Thanks." A small voice said from under the table.

Alya brought her fork back up and began to fold a pancake into quarters. She stabbed the folded pancake through and started to eat it whole. For some reason Alya never liked to cut her pancakes.

She spoke with a full mouth. "So, where are Nino and Adrien?"

"I'm surprized it took you this long to notice." Marinette said.

Alya laughed. "I'm tired, give me a break."

"According to Max, Kim, and Alex, they left in the early morning. No one knows why." She turned. "Speak of the devil."

Alya turned to see Nino enter the dining room.

She edged out from the table and walked over to him. "Where were you? Is everything alright?"

Nino nodded. "Adrien woke me up at like six," He said. "He was insisting that we had to go out so he could get something for Marinette." Nino looked down and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "He much more of a romantic than me. I felt like I had to get you something too."

He dug into his bag and pulled out a small gift bag. He handed it to her and she reached inside.

Alya's hand clasped onto something small and metal. She pulled it out to find a fox phone charm.

"I thought that 'cause you liked Volpina so much and all…." Nino's voice trailed off. He pointed to the tag. "Adrien says that it says "Jiu wei" which means Nine Tailed Fox in Chinese."

The charm showed a sleeping fox with its many tails swirling behind it. Alya rubbed her thumb over the cool metal.

Nino adjusted his hat. "I know it's not much-"

"It's wonderful." Alya promised, hugging him.

Nino chuckled as she let go. "Adrien bought Marinette an umbrella- which I don't get, but he said she would understand."

"An umbrella?" Alya furrowed her eyebrows. She could have sworn that she had heard every one of Marinette's stories about Adrien, but she had never heard anything about an umbrella.

Nino nodded. "Ella, ella, ey." He frowned. "Adrien got embarrassed and wouldn't come into the dining hall. He went upstairs to our room."

Alya thought for a moment before walking over to Marinette at the booth. She leaned against the table. "Could you go get Adrien's phone? He's out in the lobby and really needs it. Nino says it should be on top of Adrien's suitcase."

"Sure." Said Marinette, blushing. "It'll be really weird going into his room, though."

Alya shrugged. "It's not a big deal, you won't be in there for very long."

Marinette edged out of the booth and left the dining room.

"You know that you're sending her up to see him, right?" Nino said, stealing a piece of bacon off her plate.

"Yup, and when she gets there he'll give her the umbrella, problem solved." Alya attached the fox charm to her phone, beside the ladybug charm. She smiled. "I'm the trick, and Marinette's the treat."

Mrs. Bustier raised her voice to address the class. "When you're finished eating, please go up to your room and pack up your things. The bus will get here in about an hour."

Alya texted Marinette.

 _when ur done come to our room we have to pack- Alya_

Marinette didn't answer, which was probably a good sign.

Nino sighed. "I can't get packed, can I? I shouldn't bother Adrien and Marinette."

"You can help me pack," Alya said. "And besides, you have plenty of time."

Nino followed Alya to her room silently. She wondered what he was thinking under his red baseball hat. Was he embarrassed to be in her room alone? That thought made her smile.

He leaned against the bedside table, making small talk. "I can't believe this trip is almost over."

"Yeah." Alya said, shoving her clothing in her suitcase messily. "It all went by super fast." She put her suitcase on the bed and sat on top of it so she could do up the latch.

She hopped off the bed and looked at Nino. They were standing very close. He was taller than her, so she tilted her chin up to look at him.

Nino's face held a strange expression, searching her eyes. Alya wondered if he would kiss her. Although they had been dating for a while they hadn't kissed yet, not really.

She loved how close they were; faces only centimeters apart. Alya breathed in a bit and parted her lips. It was like a drumroll for a kiss.

They stood like this for a few moments, until they heard the door open. Nino backed up quickly, knocking into the night table. Alya turned to Marinette, who had just entered.

Alya spoke calmly and pleasantly, like nothing had just happened. "How'd things go with Adrien?"

Marinette was so flustered that she didn't seem to notice Nino. "Oh my god, Alya. I hate you so much." Her expression didn't match her words; Marinette was giggling, and her face was Ladybug red. In her hands, she held a white umbrella.

"I'm glad things went well." Alya gestured behind her. "Nino was just helping me pack."

Nino coughed. "Uh, do you want me to take your suitcase downstairs?"

She handed it to him. "Yeah, that be great."

He left like there was a fire.

Once Marinette had finished packing, the girls took her stuff downstairs to the front of the hotel.

They stood beside Adrien and Nino while Mrs. Bustier did the class roll-call. The four of them loaded their stuff onto the bottom of the coach bus. Alya and Nino got on together and sat side by side near the back.

Nino took his hat off and scratched his head. He sighed. "We'll probably have to write a paper about things we did on the trip."

"I don't know what I'll write about." Alya said sarcastically. "Not that much has happened while we were here."

He kissed her on the cheek.

"Liar."


End file.
